Kingdom of Heaven
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN Review:
Hmm ... Gladiator to me was an instant, four-star classic, so the sweet previews for this one (the followup historical actioner from Ridley Scott) got me super hyped up. Alas, the mostly negative reviews drained most of my enthusiasm. Still, I was excited to see the movie today and it turns out that it was definitely worth seeing. On the other hand it was a really slow paced movie in places and while the overall theme was interesting, most of the finer details of the plot and characters were pretty muddled and unmemorable. Orlando Bloom was decent as the lead, but he was overshadowed early in the movie by Liam Neeson as his father, and he never really takes over the movie like he should. It doesn't help that his character is written as pretty bland and lacking much real motivation for any of his actions. The coolest character by far was the Christian King who was a leper and hid behind an eerie silver mask. Awesome idea (not sure if it's based on fact or not) and a really cool visual. Too bad more of the movie isn't devoted to him. The villains of the picture have some pretty nice, suitably evil lines, but never quite reach the level of Joquain (sp?) Phoenix's Gladiator villainy. The movie's messages also seem to be very mixed and I came out of it not quite understanding what the point was. I won't get into the whole deal but basically it was hard to really sympathize with or even follow Orlando Bloom's course of actions as he rises from humble blacksmith to leader of the English army during the Crusades. Still, some interesting concepts, good action, a few bits of excellent acting and sharp dialogue, and a very thought-provoking historical setting make this at least worth an eventual rental.
My grade: B-
Hmm ... Gladiator to me was an instant, four-star classic, so the sweet previews for this one (the followup historical actioner from Ridley Scott) got me super hyped up. Alas, the mostly negative reviews drained most of my enthusiasm. Still, I was excited to see the movie today and it turns out that it was definitely worth seeing. On the other hand it was a really slow paced movie in places and while the overall theme was interesting, most of the finer details of the plot and characters were pretty muddled and unmemorable. Orlando Bloom was decent as the lead, but he was overshadowed early in the movie by Liam Neeson as his father, and he never really takes over the movie like he should. It doesn't help that his character is written as pretty bland and lacking much real motivation for any of his actions. The coolest character by far was the Christian King who was a leper and hid behind an eerie silver mask. Awesome idea (not sure if it's based on fact or not) and a really cool visual. Too bad more of the movie isn't devoted to him. The villains of the picture have some pretty nice, suitably evil lines, but never quite reach the level of Joquain (sp?) Phoenix's Gladiator villainy. The movie's messages also seem to be very mixed and I came out of it not quite understanding what the point was. I won't get into the whole deal but basically it was hard to really sympathize with or even follow Orlando Bloom's course of actions as he rises from humble blacksmith to leader of the English army during the Crusades. Still, some interesting concepts, good action, a few bits of excellent acting and sharp dialogue, and a very thought-provoking historical setting make this at least worth an eventual rental.
My grade: B-
posted by Danny B at 8:53 PM
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